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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — to crush
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. degree — temperature
  5. plane — a tool
  6. bank — for money
  7. ground — a position
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. bound — certain
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. degree — from a university
  12. ground — crushed
  13. bank — of a river
  14. bank — for money
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. degree — an amount
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ground — the earth
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. bound — obliged

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com